Tuesday, March 11, 2008

A Nobel Winner: Bread and Bombs

With hard commodities prices on a ferocious upward path, their soft counterparts have not strayed far behind.

Seeking to capitalize on the global mining and agriculture booms, Australian fertilizer company Incitec Pivot has agreed to buy industrial explosives maker Dyno Nobel for 2 billion Australia dollars ($1.83 billion) in cash and stock.

Incitec CEO Julian Segal told reporters in Australia on Tuesday that the combination of the two companies will “create a leading global chemicals company favorably positioned to benefit from the hard and soft commodity super cycle.”

Fertilizers and explosives are both made from ammonium nitrate. Segal said the combined entity would have the ability to swing production between fertilizers and explosives depending on market conditions....MORE